Published poetry and creative writing exercises for the curious creative by poet and playwright, Caroline N. Simpson

Monday, January 23, 2017

The Curious Creative: Week 16

Memories in Clothing

This
is the sixteenth installment of The Curious Creative, weekly
10-minute writing exercises for busy individuals interested in exploring their
creativity. For the complete rationale, click here.

My Thoughts:

You
don’t have to go very far to seek inspiration. For example, your closet of
clothing is packed with possibilities. In this week’s exercise, you will use
the emotions and memories attached to a piece of clothing as your starting
point. Clothes evoke attachment, and are the bearers of sweet and painful
memories. Like music, they are a powerful jumping off point for writing. This
exercise is adapted from Michael Smith and Suzanne Greenberg’s writing exercise,
“Quilting” (p. 63-66).

Your Turn!

Go through your closet and locate pieces
of clothing that were significant to you at a certain points in your life.
To get the pen moving, make a simple list that includes the clothing and
the event/day when you wore it. Also jot down a few words about the
feelings of that day.

Choose one of the items from your list. Scan
your memory to make a second list or freewrite containing the details you
remember about that day. Describe the event, the weather. Who was there
and who was not there? How did you physically feel in the clothing, and
how were you emotionally feeling? How did you acquire that piece of
clothing and why did you choose to wear it that day? What was significant
about that day? What led up to it and what happened after?

Now circle the “moments of heat” (lines
in your freewrite/list that are emotionally packed). Use one of these
moments as your starting off point for a poem, story or essay. If you’re
ever feeling stuck when you think about how to begin an actual piece of
writing, don’t stare at the white page. Simply add another layer of
brainstorming to your process. For example, try simply writing the story
of that day by beginning with the moment of heat.

How did you do? Did the
multiple brainstorming steps lead you to discover an interesting or poignant truth
about that day? Were you able to incorporate details about the clothing which
added depth to your piece, grounding the emotions in concrete details?

To encourage each other and grow a community of Curious Creatives, sign
in from a google account so you can share your creation in the comment boxes
below. Also, if you subscribe to this blog (submit your email address in the
"Follow this Site by Email" box to the right), you will get an email
update whenever a new exercise is added. Thanks for playing!

1 comment:

I journaled about my favorite sweater. It's more than 25 years old, and still endures. It was such a lovely, direct way of guiding me into inquiry about the importance of endurance itself... Thank you.

Biography

Caroline N. Simpson is an English teacher by vocation, and a creative spirit and global adventurer at heart. She has taught English literature at international schools in Ankara, Izmir, and Erzurum, Turkey, as well as Barcelona, Spain. She currently teaches English for Academic Purposes at Edmonds Community College in Lynnwood, WA. She loves outdoor adventure, learning about other cultures, and of course writing. She has a BFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College. She studied poetry at the Ezra Pound Center for Literature in Merano, Italy, the Hugo House, Seattle, WA, and playwriting at the Einhorn School of Performing Arts. She is a member of Seattle Playwrights Circle and the Dramatists Guild. You can reach her at gobetwee@yahoo.com.